Riots of laughter greeted the City Lit Theater world premiere of “R.U.R. [Rossum’s Universal Robots]” Wait. Could this be the same 1920 science fiction play by Czech Karel Čapek? His 1937 science fiction piece at Trap Door Theater “The White Plague” was a serious treatment of public reaction to a very AIDS-like disease seemed to anticipate current history. He was a serious writer, not a comedian.

Yes, this is Čapek’s “R.U.R.,” credited for putting the word “robot” in our lexicon. And this story revolves around that same scientific genius who has figured out how to make advanced automatons, some of which we would call androids. 

But still suspicious, I flipped to Čapek’s original script and found a fast-paced 1930s melodrama that, played straight, would probably have come across as ludicrous. Faced with generating unintended laughter from the original, City Lit Theater opted for a comic version freely adapted by Bo List, one that maintains all the major plot points of the original, but plays them for like a screwball comedy. well directed by Brian Pastor.

Harry Rossum (Bryan Breau) has inherited an island factory where robots are churned out by the millions, and exported around the globe, intended mostly to supplant servants and factory workers. Harry Rossum's late father, a mad inventor, created the robot formulae, but his son has also innovated, creating the first cordless phone - it weighs 80 lbs. - no problem when you have a robot available to carry it for you.

Robot Radius (Sean William Kelly) ferries an 80-lb. portable phone wherever its inventor Harry Rossum (Bryan Breau) needs it.

As robots crowd out humans there is, needless to say, a public reaction. Rossum’s factory receives a visit by two advocates on the societal concerns: Nana (Shawn Tucker) who thinks robots should be removed from the globe; and Helena Glory (Madelyn Loehr) who believes the sentient robots should be given rights.

The playwright Bo List has incorporated AI into the storyline, and we meet more advanced, thinking robots like Sulla (Alex George) and Marius (Brendan Hutt) who learn on the go. Helena also happens to be the daughter of the mythical country’s president, and Harry is smitten with her. Romance ensues, and the comedy kicks in.

Unfortunately for the automatons, they have a limited lifespan and cease operating under this planned obsolescence after two years. Eventually Sulla and Marius lead a robot rebellion, seeking the secret formula that would allow robots to replicate themselves. Humor abounds.

Some of the jokes are inherent to the retro-science fiction premise. Robots operate typewriters, with precision typing at ungodly speeds. Or robots communicating with each other via telegram. In one gag that is flogged to death onstage, humans require a long explanation of why an intercepted robot telegram closes with LOL. The robots demonstrate what it means by laughing mechanically in unison. While I found some of the gags sophomoric, the conceptual humor had me laughing frequently.

Scenic design by Jeremiah Barr is quite successful, as are costumes for robots and humans, by Beth Laske-Miller.

“R.U.R. [Rossum’s Universal Robots]” runs through June 15, 2025 at City Lit Theater in the Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr in Chicago.

Brendan Hutt (left) is Marius and Alex George is Sulla in City Lit Theater's "R.U.R. [Rossum’s Universal Robots]” running through June 15, 2025.